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1/2 tsp Calcium Carbonate added to mash water (I will probably bump this up to a whole tsp next time. I had never used it before and wasn't sure of the hardness of the water I was using. I considered adding the other 1/2 at sparge, but don't know if this will make any impact.)

Yeast was an American Ale style Smack Pack--I can't remember the exact.

My OG was 1.050

I'm thinking about reducing temperature after the mash and adding 1 lb of unground malt to inoculate with Lacto and sour for around 24 hours.

What do you think? Any warnings, cautions or advice before I jump in on this one? It will be my first sour mash. I am very careful about sanitation so I must admit I am a bit wary about intentionally introducing bugs to my system. Should I add a second rest to my infusion mash? I've read that sour mashing can affect protein conversion.

"The selling of bad beer is a crime against Christian love." 13th Century law of the city of Augsburg.

I like it. That's pretty much the same specialty grain bill that I use on my Imperial Stout. I guess this one falls into the realm of "is that a stout or a porter?".

If it were my porter, I'd replace the crystal 90 with Special B. If you really want it to taste like a porter, I'd remove the roasted barley and up the chocolate malt to .75, but that's just me. Either way, you have the makings of greatness here. Go with God.

Last edited by Baacktoberfest; 11-04-2012 at 09:25 PM.

"Nothing matters
but flopping on a mattress
with cheap dreams and a beer."
-Butowski

It can be real hard to tell which is a porter and which is a stout. I've had the same beer served to two different people and had one say, "This is more of a stout," and another say, "This is more of a porter."

What else do you add to your grain bill for the Impy?

"The selling of bad beer is a crime against Christian love." 13th Century law of the city of Augsburg.

I'd call it a stout since it has the roasted barley in it along with the dark bill. Without the barley it'd be a porter (but that's my flimsy definition). Hope it turns out well, I haven't started delving into the sour beers yet. Minus the barley it looks just like a porter I made. Very tasty. Best of luck.

It can be real hard to tell which is a porter and which is a stout. I've had the same beer served to two different people and had one say, "This is more of a stout," and another say, "This is more of a porter."

What else do you add to your grain bill for the Impy?

I leave out the Crystal 90 and add Special B. You'll also need enough marris otter to get to 13.8% ABV. It's one of my favorite five Impys, including commercial versions.

Edit: .5# Special B to be exact.

"Nothing matters
but flopping on a mattress
with cheap dreams and a beer."
-Butowski

Are you going to sour the whole malt bill for 24 hours? If I can't empty my mash tun for a day, if I brew late at night, the mash makes my garage smell like a football team locker room. It is nasty. I've never done a sour mash, but I would do a small mash (a pound or 2) the day before, let it sour and then add it to the main mash. But this is an untested idea I have, I probably read it somewhere.

Part of this is showing my neighbor the different options easily available in homebrewing. I'm thinking about mashing the porter and then running off enough second wort for a parti-gyle brown (ish). Then split the porter into two batches. To one add a soured mash made a couple days before from a small mash. Let these two ferment out side by side for comparisons. Then I might split the brown (ish) into two and ferment one with regular yeast and put the other on brett. Two different sources of souring and four very different beers from one grain bill.

I may have to boost the parti-gyle with some DME but haven't done the calculations yet.

As for the smell, my neighbor's son emptied the mash tun in my flower bed and didn't rinse it with the hose. The next day my front porch had a very funky odor.

Last edited by cluckk; 11-07-2012 at 08:11 AM.

"The selling of bad beer is a crime against Christian love." 13th Century law of the city of Augsburg.

1/2 tsp Calcium Carbonate added to mash water (I will probably bump this up to a whole tsp next time. I had never used it before and wasn't sure of the hardness of the water I was using. I considered adding the other 1/2 at sparge, but don't know if this will make any impact.)

Yeast was an American Ale style Smack Pack--I can't remember the exact.

My OG was 1.050

I'm thinking about reducing temperature after the mash and adding 1 lb of unground malt to inoculate with Lacto and sour for around 24 hours.

What do you think? Any warnings, cautions or advice before I jump in on this one? It will be my first sour mash. I am very careful about sanitation so I must admit I am a bit wary about intentionally introducing bugs to my system. Should I add a second rest to my infusion mash? I've read that sour mashing can affect protein conversion.

Sour it for 3-4 days if you really want to notice the pucker, in my personal experience 24 hours is barley noticeable at all.

Rather than experimenting with it in this brew, I made a Kentucky Common. I produced a small mash and soured it for two days. I then added that to the kettle for boiling. I dedicated a small 2 gallon cooler to souring. When I opened it my daughter almost threw-up. However, I liked the smell and loved the taste of it--nice tart finish. Next time I try a larger amount and then let it sit for three days.

"The selling of bad beer is a crime against Christian love." 13th Century law of the city of Augsburg.

Comes stand in my garage with a full mash tun that's been there 24 hours . Even last week when the garage temps are barely into the 80's the mash from my ESB stank like fermented dirty gym socks.

Ohio tends to but a bit colder than NM my friend, not to mention my mash tun seals and doesnt let the smell out! But yes in 24 hours you get the smell, but in my personal experience you need to wait 2 or 3 days before you really get the "sour" taste.